Over to you…

Over the last couple of years I have really enjoyed writing pieces for this blog telling you about some of the fantastic wildlife that we have in Cumbernauld, and about the amazing people that we have worked with to protect and improve our beautiful greenspaces.

Sadly this will be one of the the last pieces for a while, as the current Cumbernauld Living Landscape team is moving on. So I just wanted to leave you with a few thoughts.

Cumbernauld is a very special place – with over half the area of the town made up of woodlands, grasslands and wetlands. They support a huge amount of wildlife. Not everyone is so lucky. In the UK as a whole we have now lost more biodiversity than any other country in western Europe – and we are in the bottom 10% globally. And that’s not just numbers of different species, but how abundant they are. No more windscreens covered with insects when you drive in the summer. No more huge flocks of house sparrows in cities.

Biodiversity – nature – isn’t just a nice optional extra that we can use to make our countryside look pretty – it’s our life support system. It provides our clean air, our water, our temperature control, and of course our food. We know from our work with local people that many of you are also aware of that, and are working extremely hard to make sure our greenspaces and wildlife are protected and improved. It’s another reason Cumbernauld is such a great place to live!

So I’d like to leave you with a small challenge. If you have enjoyed reading this blog, could you consider using the five minutes it took each week to do something for wildlife instead? It could be picking up a piece of plastic litter; taking a photo of a local greenspace you’ve enjoyed and sharing it on social media; or showing your children a new plant or animal they didn’t know about. And of course, if there’s an election, voting for a party that will protect our environment.

If you’re reading this you almost certainly care about our local wildlife. Talking about it and showing others how much you care is one of the best ways you can protect it in the long run. Thank you!